Telephone-mouthpiece disinfector



Feb. 16 1926.

P. S. O DONNELL TELEPHONE MOUTHPIECE DI SINF'ECTOR Filed Jan. 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 16 1926.

P. s ODONNELL TELEPHONE MOUTHPI EC E DI SINFECTOR Filed Jan. 3, 1

2 Sheets-Sheet E Fatented Feb. H3, 1926.

. e- Eur.

PATRICK SHAUGHNESSEY' ODONNELL, OF LONDON,- E1\TGLA-1\TD.

TELEPHONE-MOUTHPIECE DISINFECTOR.

Application filed. January 3, 1924.-. Serial No. 684,235.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that. PATRICK. SHAUeHnnssnY ODoN'NnLL, a subject ofthe King of Great Britain, of Morning-ton Crescent, London, NlV. 1, in the county of London, England (whose post-office, addressisQ hiiornington Crescent, London, NW. 1, England), has

invented certain new and ,useful Improve.- ments' in Telephone-llllouthpiece Disinfectors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention for improvements in apparatus for use in disinfecting telephone mouth-pieces has for its object, .to. remove all danger of infection from the useof tele-. phones and to provide improved. means whereby a disinfectant ,or germicide may be held in a convenient form and in a convenient manner in close proximity to the mouth-piece of, the telephone without altering the mouth-piece or interfering with the speaker.

The invention comprises a small light container, holder or case of metal or other, material and preferably of tubularnform and a spring clip arranged to embrace the neck portion of the mouth-piece, of the tele phone transmitter and to support thecontainer justwabove the front edge of the same.

A powerfulvolatile germicide and disinfectant such as a solution of formaldehyde for example made up in cartridge or other convenient form is inserted in the container and delivers the, vapour across the mouthpiece ,of the transmitter through suitable slots or openings formed in the container.

Inone wayof carrying out the invention the container or holder which may be made of metal, consists of a tubular case with a removable cover or cap at one end and a.

series of longitudinal slots or openings near the middle, A lug fixed transversely to the case near the middle of its length is con nected with an extension or lug carried on a spring clip formed to embrace the narrow portion of the mouth-piece of the telephone transmitter. The connection between the container or holder for the disinfectant and its supoprt is preferably one which permits of the container being moved backward or forward to some extent in relation to its support in order that if necessary the con tainer, which normally lies horizontally just above the mouth-piece may be pushed back to enable a speaker to put his mouth close upto the mouth-piece, as for example when contents gradually, and an enclosing tubeor sleeve ofunsized paper closed at its ends and arranged tofabsorb and diffuse the liquid ,contents of the receptacle which es-.

cape gradually after the receptaclehas been punctured. The cartridges can be easily re-. moved and renewed as required. It will be understood, however, that any other suit able form of disinfecting medium couldbe. employed in the container or holder.

The invention is more fully described with reference to the, accompanying drawings in which 2- I a Figs. 1 and; 2 illustrate in. side and a front elevation respectivelyone practical embodimentof this, inventionin which the disinfecting means islpiv'otally supported.

Fig. 3 is a] sectional view. of the same drawn togalarger scale.

Figs. 4 and 5' are side and tion respectively of a modified embodiment of. the invention having the disinfecting meanS 1nou11teclso as, to be capable of, sliding. i i 2 Fig.6 isa detail sectional viewtak'en. on theline 6.6 in Fig. {L

Figs. =7 and 8 illustrate in plan andsectionalside'elevation respectively a still further modified embodiment of the invention. a i V Referring toFigsgil toil it will be seen thati the apparatus comprises'a cylindrical container orcase a preferably of thin metal,

having a i'emovablecap or cover Z) atone end enabling tlre'containcrto be opened for theintroductionof a disinfecting cartridge, and plurality of longitudinal slots or openings c'along the centre portion of the case through which the vapour of the disinfectant is delivered to the telephone mouthpiece d. A lug e brazed or sweated to the case at its centre of length projects ashort distance from the case and is formed near the end with a pair of trunnions 6 arranged. in a line parallel with the longitudinal axis of the case. K

A spring clip f arranged to embrace the narrow neck portion of the telephone mouthfront eleva-- piece has attached at its centre of length a lug g projecting towards the front of the telephone mouth-piece d, and the lateral edges 9 of this lug are turned upwards and perforated so as to form suitable bearings in which the trunnions e are engaged. This method of mounting the device enables the case to be moved when required from a position just over the edge of the mouth-piece (Z backwards to a position just over the spring clip f as indicated bychain lines in Fig. 1. g and clip 7" acts upon the extremity of the lug e and serves to retain the case a in either of its extreme positions. The forward extremity of the lug g is turned up to form a stop or support for the case a when in the forward position.

The case at is intended to accommodate a volatile disinfecting material the vapour from w nch is diffused through the slots 0 over the telephone mouth-piece and for convenience this disinfectant is preferably employed in cartridge form as shown at 2' in Fig. 3. A suitable cartridge for such use consists of a fluid tight container capable of being punctured, packed with an absorbent material saturated with a disinfectant and germicide such as a' solution of formaldehyde. When inserted in the case a the cartridge is pierced with some suitable sharp in strument and is then capable of delivering a disinfectant vapour about the telephone mouth-piece. Upon exhaustion of the fluid contents of a cartridge the cartridge may be removed and replaced by a fresh cartridge. 7 Q

The modified construction illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6 is similar to that'just described except that the case (4 instead of being mounted to pivot on the lug on the spring clip f is arranged to slide for the purpose of adjustment. To this end the lug projecting forwardly of the spring clip 7' has its lateral edges g doubled over to form opposed channel guides in which the lug 6 upon the case (i is arranged to slide, to an extent limited by the upturned end a of the lug e which constitutes a stop. In this way it is possible to push back the case a when it is foundtobe in the way of the user of the telephone- A still further modified form of construc- A spring tongue h. rivetedto the lug tion illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 has the case a rigidly mounted upon the spring clip f by means of a forwardly projecting lug y.

This construction is intended for use in cases where movement of the disinfecting device with relation to the telephone mouth-piece is not required.

I claim i 1. Apparatus for disinfecting telephone mouth-pieces comprising a cylindrical container and a spring clip adapted to embrace the neck portion of a telephone mouth-piece and to support the container in a horizontal position above the front edge thereof.

2. Apparatus for disinfecting telephone mouth-pieces comprising an open ended cylindrical. container, a removable closure for the end of said container and a spring clip adapted to embrace the neck portion of a telephone mouth-piece and to support the container in a horizontal position above the front edge thereof.

3. Apparatus for disinfecting telephone mouth-pieces comprising a cylindrical container, a spring clip adapted to embrace the neck portion of a telephone mouth-piece and to support the container in a horizontal position above the front edge thereof and means connecting the container and clip, said means permitting movement of the container in relation to the clip. I

at. Apparatus for disinfecting telephone mouth-pieces comprising a'cylindrical metal container, having openings, a removable end closure 'for'sa-id container, a spring clip arranged to engage a telephone mouth-piece, a lug attached to the container, a lug attached to the spring clip and means movably con necting the two lugs.

5. Apparatus for disinfecting telephone mouth-pieces comprising a cylindrical metal container, a removable end closure for said container, said container having openings to permit the escape of disinfectii'ig gases therefrom, a spring clip engaging the telephone PATRICK SHAUGHNESSEY ODONNELL. 

